World Argentina Distrito Federal Buenos Aires

South America, UK & Ireland 2012

Finally arrived in Buenos Aires Apr 28, 2012

Hola! Buenos Aires! I had a lovely 36 hour+ trip from Melbourne all the way to Buenos Aires, this included an unplanned visit to a lovely Hotel near Auckland, thank you LAN airlines for your hospitality! The trip here started fantastically, took a flight from Melbourne airport up to Sydney airport with a 1.5 hour connection. Going through Sydney airport breezed through customs without the usual drug test (thank you!) & got to the gate with about 15 minutes to boarding. The next stop, Auckland, New Zealand. Auckland Airport- What a lovely stop, ground staff are lovely as is the calming music over the PA system! It's a bit of a shame I spent more time sitting in an areoplane than in the terminal! Just after the plane left the terminal, and about to taxi to the end of the runway, my worst nightmare.... Pilot announced something was wrong with the plane!... Cutting a long story short, 3 hours stuck in a plane going nowhere maked for a tired/grumpy & hungry Nathan! Eventually the pilot let us off the plane to stretch our legs etc... after doing that, 1 hour later we were sent through NZ customs & welcomed into New Zealand where we were shipped of to a Hotel for the night. Usually, the above scenario would be a disaster, but not for me, many good things occurred. 1. Free accomodation in a nice Hotel 2. Free meal (suffice at 10pm) 3. Free breakfast vouchers in the morning 4. Somewhere to grab a little kip. So at 7am on the Friday arrive at the Airport, jump on the plane & away to Santiago safely prior to a 6 hour transit & eventually onto Buenos Aires. Now, I hear that flying over the andes can get quite rough, sadly it was quite smooth which was more than I could say for myself. Now, before I get into the next stage, I would just like to apologise to the lovely steward at LAN Argentina who is the real victim in this story: The story begins with a tired, slightly drunk feeling (mind you, I have had no alcohol at this point), the steward handed me a sandwich, & I crazily pointed to indicate that I wanted an orange juice (mistake number 1). After being served the drink, I took one mouthful & placed the cup safely back onto the tray in front of me. Now, the next move in hindsight was not my best, but as I went to grab the cup again, i'm not quite sure what I did but suddenly there was some juice all over the tray, all over me & all over the steward. I would have said sorry, but I speak no Spanish!!! - So I take this time to apologise to the poor steward who ended up wearing my drink! Thankfully the rest of the flight was free from any disasters, & the plane landed safely in Buenos Aires. Next, I arrive safely at the Hotel, I'm not quite sure how as the drivers in Buenos Aires are nuts! - They seemed to create lanes & spots to move across traffic which back in Australia would either: a) Cause an Accident; b) Cause road rage; C) Cause one to be arrested for dangerous driving; d) Probably knock over a pedestrian or two, or three. Now, once I did get to the Hotel, again the old language barrier & the fact I hadn't slept very well for the past 3 days meant an interesting conversation occurred. But still, one thing I did understand was that I no longer had my room, but not to be concerned things only got better. After being able to confirm that yes, I was standing there at reception, & yes I was meant to have arrived 1 day earlier I was still able to stay at the Hotel, & yes I was given a room upgrade where I was now a guest of an Executive suite. So finally, thank you LAN for making me tired, for making me late & for giving me the opportunity to stay in a really nice Hotel room. Also, I would like to thank The Savoy Hotel for giving me the upgrade! For anyone interested, I have attached a few Photos of Buenos Aires which I have taken... I will make further updates as & when I can.

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